
Hunter Biden turned to DNC for legal fees, ultimately his ‘sugar brother' footed millions
The upcoming political tell-all, 2024: How Trump Retook the White House and the Democrats Lost America claims the DNC declined, even though it had already been footing the legal bill for President Joe Biden's separate classified documents investigation.
ALSO READ| Trump makes bombshell cocaine claim against Joe and Hunter Biden, says 'bad stuff happened' in White House
Kevin Morris bankrolled Hunter's legal woes
The book, written by journalists Josh Dawsey, Tyler Pager, and Isaac Arnsdorf, cites that by mid-2024, Hunter's legal situation had become increasingly dire.
The former son's longtime backer and friend, Hollywood lawyer Kevin Morris, nicknamed his 'sugar brother', had already paid off over $2 million in back taxes and was reportedly covering many of Hunter's legal expenses. These included not only defence attorneys but also court-mandated payments like alimony to ex-wife Kathleen Buhle and child support to Lunden Roberts, the mother of Hunter's daughter, Navy Joan, as the New York Post cited.
Morris, who testified before House Republicans earlier this year, estimated that Hunter's legal tab had hit $5 million by the time the 2024 presidential race began heating up. However, Morris' own daughter criticised Hunter, accusing him of 'taking advantage' of her father's support.
How Hunter Biden's trials undid a Presidency
Last June, a law firm that once represented Hunter sued him for allegedly failing to pay over $50,000 in outstanding fees. On 11 June 2024, Hunter was convicted on three felony gun charges. Just months later, in September, he pleaded guilty to several tax felonies for evading $1.4 million in IRS payments.
'The only thing I care about is that my son is not convicted,' Then President Joe Biden told one of his close friends, per The Wall Street Journal.
Notably, Joe even considered creating a legal defence fund to help Hunter battle both federal charges and the ongoing congressional inquiry into his overseas business dealings.
ALSO READ| Hunter Biden To Go To Jail Now? Trump's Shocking Announcement On Pardons By Joe Biden | Autopen
Ultimately, Biden issued a pardon for Hunter, covering all charges and any potential related offences committed between January 1, 2014, and December 1, 2024.
2024: How Trump Retook the White House and the Democrats Lost America by Penguin Press will hit the shelves on July 8.
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NDTV
37 minutes ago
- NDTV
China Used Embassies To Undermine Rafale Sales After India-Pakistan Tensions: Report
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Four days of India-Pakistan clashes in May were the most serious confrontation in years between the two nuclear-armed neighbors, and included air combat that involved dozens of aircraft from both sides. Military officials and researchers have since been digging for details of how Pakistan's Chinese-made military hardware - particularly warplanes and air-combat missiles - fared against weaponry that India used in airstrikes on Pakistani targets, notably French-made Rafale fighters. Sales of Rafales and other armaments are big business for France's defense industry and help efforts by the government in Paris to strengthen ties with other nations, including in Asia where China is becoming the dominant regional power. France Fighting What It Calls A Disinformation Campaign Against Rafale Pakistan claimed its air force downed five Indian planes during the fighting, including three Rafales. 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They say the campaign included viral posts on social media, manipulated imagery showing supposed Rafale debris, AI-generated content and video-game depictions to simulate supposed combat. More than 1,000 social media accounts newly created as the India-Pakistan clashes erupted also spread a narrative of Chinese technological superiority, according to French researchers who specialize in online disinformation. French military officials say they haven't been able to link the online Rafale-bashing directly to the Chinese government. Intelligence assessment says Chinese officials lobbied potential clients to ditch French planes But the French intelligence service said Chinese embassy defense attaches echoed the same narrative in meetings they held with security and defense officials from other countries, arguing that Indian Air Force Rafales performed poorly and promoting Chinese-made weaponry. The defense attaches focused their lobbying on countries that have ordered Rafales and other potential customer-nations that are considering purchases, the intelligence service said. It said French officials learned of the meetings from nations that were approached. Asked by AP to comment on the alleged effort to dent the Rafale's appeal, the Ministry of National Defense in Beijing said: "The relevant claims are pure groundless rumors and slander. China has consistently maintained a prudent and responsible approach to military exports, playing a constructive role in regional and global peace and stability." In recent years, China has stepped up disinformation campaigns on global social media platforms like X, Instagram or Facebook, using networks of state-sponsored influencers, sites that pose as news organizations, and fake social media accounts to spread narratives from Beijing. France's Defense Ministry said the Rafale was targeted by "a vast campaign of disinformation" that "sought to promote the superiority of alternative equipment, notably of Chinese design." France Considers Jet A 'Strategic French Offering' "The Rafale was not randomly targeted. It is a highly capable fighter jet, exported abroad and deployed in a high-visibility theater," the Defense Ministry wrote on its website. "The Rafale was also targeted because it represents a strategic French offering. By attacking the aircraft, certain actors sought to undermine the credibility of France and its defense industrial and technological base. The disinformation campaign therefore did not merely target an aircraft, but more broadly a national image of strategic autonomy, industrial reliability, and solid partnerships." Dassault Aviation has sold 533 Rafales, including 323 for export to Egypt, India, Qatar, Greece, Croatia, the United Arab Emirates, Serbia and Indonesia. Indonesia has ordered 42 planes and is considering buying more. China may be hoping to weaken the security relationships that France is building with Asian nations by spreading worries about the equipment it supplies, said Justin Bronk, an airpower specialist at the Royal United Services Institute, a defense and security think tank in London. "From a point of view of limiting Western countries' influence in the Indo-Pacific, it would make sense for China to be using the performance of Pakistani weapon systems - or at least purported performance - in downing at least one Rafale as a tool to undermine its attractiveness as an export," he said. "They certainly saw an opportunity to damage French sales prospects in the region."


Time of India
an hour ago
- Time of India
TET-qualified teachers set 7-day deadline for talks over equal pay & reforms
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First Post
an hour ago
- First Post
Indian-origin Tesla CFO Vaibhav Taneja appointed treasurer of Elon Musk's America Party
Vaibhav Taneja's official role in Musk's political party was confirmed through paperwork submitted to the US Federal Election Commission read more Indian-American Vaibhav Taneja, currently the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) at Tesla, has been named as the Treasurer and Custodian of Records for Elon Musk's newly launched political venture, the America Party. Musk, an ex-ally of US President Donald Trump, said Saturday he had launched a new political party in the United States to challenge what the tech billionaire described as the country's 'one-party system." The world's richest person and Trump's biggest political donor in the 2024 election had a bitter falling out with the president after leading the Republican's effort to slash spending and cut federal jobs as head of the so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Musk has clashed with Trump over the president's massive domestic spending plan, saying it would explode the US debt, and vowed to do everything in his power to defeat lawmakers who voted for it. Now he has created the so-called America Party, his own political framework, through which to try and achieve that. 'When it comes to bankrupting our country with waste & graft, we live in a one-party system, not a democracy,' the Space X and Tesla boss posted on X, the social media platform that he owns. 'Today, the America Party is formed to give you back your freedom." Taneja's official role in Musk's political outfit was confirmed through paperwork submitted to the US Federal Election Commission (FEC), which lists him as both Treasurer and Custodian of Records of the party. 🚨 BREAKING: It's official. An FEC filing under Elon Musk's name just confirmed the creation of a brand new political vehicle, the AMERICA PARTY. The paperwork lists Tesla CFO Vaibhav Taneja as both Treasurer and Custodian of Records. You don't file FEC paperwork unless you're… — Brian Allen (@allenanalysis) July 6, 2025 STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD It is not clear how much impact the new party would have on the 2026 mid-term elections, or on the presidential vote two years after that. The Trump-Musk feud reignited in dramatic fashion late last month as Trump pushed Republicans in Congress to ram through his massive domestic agenda in the form of the One Big Beautiful Bill. Musk expressed fierce opposition to the legislation, and ruthlessly attacked its Republican backers for supporting 'debt slavery." Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who clashed with Musk while he ran DOGE, said on CNN's 'State of the Union' on Sunday that DOGE's 'principles' were popular but 'if you look at the polling, Elon was not.' 'I imagine that those board of directors did not like this announcement yesterday and will be encouraging him to focus on his business activities, not his political activities,' he said. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD With inputs from agencies